M. Bison
M. Bison, known as Vega (ベガ, Bega) in Japan, was one of the primary bosses and one of the most evil characters of the Street Fighter fighting games. First introduced in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, he was a recurring boss and villain of the Street Fighter games. "M. Bison" was originally the name of another Street Fighter II character, a boxer who closely resembled Mike Tyson. Capcom considered Bison to be a legal liability, and rearranged the names of its characters once the game was localized for the United States. The boxer was renamed Balrog, and Vega inherited the name M. Bison. A would-be world dictator, M. Bison's ambition was to control the world's governments through his covert crime syndicate and to have Ryu's body as a replacement, believing that his Satsui no Hadou will make him even more powerful, Shadaloo (シャドルー, Shadorū?, sometimes "Shadowlaw"). He served as the host of Street Fighter II's fighting tournament and was the last opponent fought in the game. Several of the game's characters had a personal vendetta against Bison, and entered the tournament in the hope of having a shot at him. M. Bison wielded Psycho Power, a negative ki which manifested as blue flames and electricity. History 'Street Fighter Alpha 2' Bison, C.E.O of the criminal organization known as Shadaloo, hears of a fighter named Ryu who defeated his new henchman, Sagat. Bison decides to recruit Ryu as a replacement body host, and begins the search for him. In the meantime, he is confronted by Rose, a mysterious woman who wields power that is in many ways similar to his own. Rose wins the ensuing battle but only to find out that Bison has left the battlefield completely unscathed and has possibly threw the fight. Reasons for this are disclosed during the events of SFA3. Afterwards, Bison encounters Chun Li. They have a brief duel in which Bison toys around with the girl. He flees and lets Chun Li know that he murdered her father. After this, Bison is finally able to track down Ryu. At first, Bison attemts to persuade Ryu to join him by promising that he would make him the greatest fighter ever. Ryu mocks him and the two engage in combat. Bison wins and takes Ryu's body to his scientists for a brainwashing via exposure to Psycho Power. ''It is debatable whether this ending is canon or not, however, the exact events which it depicts did took place during ''SFA3. 'Street Fighter Alpha 3' By the time of Street Fighter Alpha 3, the Psycho Power begins exceeding the limits of Bison's body. Having predicted this event, he had his scientists engineer a body that he could transfer his essence into in the form of Cammy: a genetically engineered girl using Bison's DNA as a template. He included her in the Doll project: his elite squad of brainwashed young women who serve as assassins. However, over the course of Alpha 3, Cammy begins to develop self-consciousness and goes rogue. Bison sends Vega (one of his assassins) to retrieve her, and then, when Vega fails, Juli, another member of the Dolls. Considering the alternatives for the spare body, Bison turns his sights to Ryu in order to use his body, and the personal rival of Bison's right-hand man Sagat who was defeated by him. On his journey to find Ryu in order to get his body, Bison learns of the Satsui no Hadou, the same evil power that Ryu was consume by when he defeated Sagat. He states that it is only a matter of time before he claims Ryu's body. Bison sends Juni, another Doll, to gather data on Ryu and the Satsui no Hadou. In order to lure Ryu out, Bison kidnaps his best friend and rival - Ken. Using Psycho Power, he brainwashes Ken and pits him against Ryu, he manages to defeat Ken and release him of Bison's influence. Ryu then takes on Bison. He then tries to subject him to Psycho Power. As Sagat and Ken were witnessing these events, Ryu was able to break free of Bison's mental grip because of the Satsui no Hadou within him. Once again, Ryu engages Bison in an epic battle. Suddenly, a strange connection is established between Bison's Psycho Power and the Satsui No Hadou within Ryu. Realizing that the two powers are somewhat similer, Bison attempts to put Ryu under his control once again but failed. Ryu manages to resist and strikes Bison down with a powerful Metsu Shoryuken with some of the Satsui no Hadou's power, Bison is then forced to flee back to his base, and returns back to his Psycho Drive to heal himself. Meanwhile, Cammy, now acting on her own, manages to assemble the remaining Dolls and turn them against their master. The refreshed Bison appears and decides that the Dolls are no longer of use to him, therefore, they are to be disposed of. All of the Dolls fight back but Bison informs them that if he is to perish, because of the psychic link between the dolls and him, they will experience the same fate. Nevertheless, the Dolls escape the Shadaloo base as their minds slowly begin to deteriorate. Meanwhile, USAF officers Charlie and Guile are on a mission to stop the dictator. Guile and Charlie are joined by Chun-Li. After learning that the bombardment of Shadaloo was called off due to corruption in Interpol and Bison's manipulation, Chun-Li realized that they would have to destroy the base themselves. Cammy, with not much time left, takes advantage of her genetic similarity to Bison in order to operate the Psycho Drive. Using it, she removes the psychic fail-safe on the Dolls and saves them. While Chun-Li and Guile escape the base (which they have rigged with explosives), Charlie keeps fighting the resurrected Bison to allow their escape, and apparently sacrifices his own life. M. Bison's soul, however, ends up surviving the explosion and, despite the destruction of the Psycho Drive, takes control of Rose. It is revealed that, while trying to master Psycho Power, M. Bison had to expel all the humanity and good in his soul to accommodate and supplant the intense energy the power gives him, and that Rose is actually the formation of all of M. Bison's good energy. This also explains the outcome of their first duel during SFA2. Bison stays inside of Rose's body until his Shadaloo scientists forge a new body for him. 'Super Street Fighter II Turbo' M. Bison then holds the second Street Fighter tournament to get revenge against the people who opposed him during the events of Street Fighter Alpha 3—especially the ones that destroyed the Psycho Drive—and to lure out Ryu once more in hopes of gaining his body. His Psycho Power seems to have significantly diminished since the destruction of the Psycho Drive, but he is still powerful. His plans are foiled by Akuma (who was not a competitor in the tournament). Always searching for worthy opponents, Akuma wishes to fight the finalist of the dictator's tournament (it is unknown who the finalist was), so before the very start of the final battle, he defeats Bison in combat and uses the Raging Demon, destroying the Shadaloo boss in an instant. Akuma mocks Bison for being the slave of his own power, not knowing that Bison is actually in absolute control of his Psycho Power. 'Super Street Fighter IV' At some point before encountering Ryu and Akuma, Bison ordered the creation of at least 26 androids by S.I.N., the weapons division of Shadaloo. #15 (i.e. Seth) was chosen to be the new head of S.I.N., demonstrating a higher level of intelligence than the others. #15 was referred to indirectly as "Bison's right hand". Shadaloo also had a family killed, Juri Han however, survives, however, and S.I.N gives her the Feng Shui Engine, deciding she can be use to carry out missions for their own evil deeds. Bison's apparent demise at the hands of Akuma, #15 takes the name Seth and makes his own attempt at world domination, beginning with the announcement of a new tournament in order to get Ryu to come so he can gain his Satsui no Hadou without letting most of his workers know. Juri has a plan of her own for both of them and, apparently aware that Bison has returned, and tries to pit Bison and Seth against each other in revenge for her parents that were killed by his company. Bison takes the bait and returns, his soul transplanted to a new body (again not as strong the one from his Alpha days). Though his scientists try to dissuade him (their reasoning being that, in time, a new body could be created that could hold the Psycho Power in its entirety), Bison chooses the weaker body instead of remaining dead any longer, stating that he never imagined that Seth would go so far and it will only be a matter of time before Bison would inhabit his body (meaning Ryu) anyway. Bison takes part in Seth's new World Warrior tournament, completely incapacitating his opponents in the qualifying rounds. Bison eventually reaches Seth's S.I.N. headquarters at the head of the remaining androids, attacking Seth for losing his mindless servitude to Bison, which makes him useless. Seth protests that he had almost rebuilt Bison's empire, which had fallen into decline since the second World Warrior tournament; however, Bison counters by saying that everything that has happened has, in fact, been part of Bison's plan. Standing over the helpless Seth, Bison is suddenly confronted by Juri, whose plan to have the two destroy each other has failed as Seth did not put up enough of a fight. She threatens Bison, who is unimpressed, and though the resultant fight (if any) is not shown, both seem to survive as both are seen later. Meanwhile, another android which had been fighting Abel shows signs of also developing self-awareness like Seth, and Bison promptly destroys it, remarking that Abel has grown since an unspecified last meeting. His exact relationship with Abel is unknown; however, it is implied that Abel was somehow part of the experiments that created the androids. On his way out of the facility, Bison ambushes Rose, also at the S.I.N. headquarters. Remarking that she owes him something, Bison incapacitates her and threatens to take it back "with interest". As Bison reaches his jet, however, he is confronted by Guy, who threatens to destroy the jet if Bison does not hand her over. Apparently in a hurry, Bison acquiesces and relinquishes the unconscious Rose. 'Street Fighter V' Bison appears older between the Street Fighter IV series and the Street Fighter III series. He has a new plan by using a weapon (similar to the Death Star from the Star Wars film franchise) to destroy entire cities from a great capacity and wants to conquer the world. 'Ultimate Fate: Unknown' What happened to Bison after the events of Super Street Fighter IV is currently unknown. However, Bison was not heard from in Street Fighter III, and Chun-Li's mid-boss dialogue with Urien in Street Fighter III 3rd Strike suggests that Shadaloo was finally destroyed by Chun-Li. In Street Fighter IV, however, Shadaloo is also thought to be destroyed, though Bison is obviously taking steps to revive it. Additionally, Bison mentions several times in Alpha 3 that he has taken many names and forms over the centuries, though whether he's telling the truth is another matter. Because of this, it is impossible to know whether Bison has been truly destroyed by the time of 3rd Strike. However, in Rose's ending in Super Street Fighter IV, she has a vision of Ryu and Bison fighting. Since this takes place after Street Fighter II, it is possible that this is supposed to be Ryu becoming Evil Ryu again and Bison's unknown plan. In contrast to the above ending, near the end of the events of Super Street Fighter IV before taking out Seth, Bison tells him that "everything went according to plan", implying that his intention all along was to make everyone believe that Shadaloo is no more. It is very likely that Bison is at long last gone during the events of Street Fighter III. Personality M. Bison is an archetypical villain character motivated by his own selfish interests and lust for power. He is a ruthless, callous and an unforgiving dictator with no hesitations for destroying anyone or anything who opposes him. He shows a complimenting side, however, when he states to Karin Kanzuki that he watched her and Sakura fight, stating that they fight very well for girls and, after she defeats his Dolls, that Karin did well and is a qualified fighter. While demanding absolute loyalty and obedience from his subordinates, Bison considers them to be nothing more than pawns as opposed to considering them to be human beings and tolerates his henchmen only as long as they serve his dark ambitions: he decides to exterminate Cammy and the Dolls for becoming useless to his further plans in Street Fighter Alpha 3 and tries to eliminate Seth for usurping him in Street Fighter IV. He is not above trying to use coercion by force (during Fei-Long's storyline in SFA3) and brainwashing to convert skilled martial artists to his cause. Bison shows no compassion or mercy towards his hapless victims, considering them insignificant and pitiful wretches not worth living. As the founder and leader of Shadaloo, he is prepared to gain power and wealth using all possible criminal activities, ranging from drug trafficking and arms dealing to terrorism and illegal human experimentation. Bison is supremely arrogant and narcissistic with an ego that rivals or may even surpass that of Vega and a penchant for fancying himself a god. He has nothing but contempt for his opponents and considering himself the superior fighter for mastering Psycho Power. However, Akuma notes during his pre-final boss dialogue in SFA3 that Bison is foolish for not relying solely upon his fists. As stated in his own pre-boss fight dialogue with Ryu in SFA3, Bison's ultimate goal is to rule the world forever and be recognized as the most powerful martial artist of all time by possessing Ryu's body. Intending to accomplish that objective, Bison has cheated death and returned to wreck havoc on humanity not once but twice. Unlike other villainous boss characters of the series, like Gill (who desires to rule mankind as a benevolent sovereign) or Akuma (who wants to test his strength against worthy opponents and to die in an honorable fight), Bison is interested in tormenting, exploiting and ultimately oppressing other people to achieve absolute power for his own selfish urges. Unsurprisingly, he has earned the eternal hatred from many other Street Fighter characters (Chun-Li, Guile, Guy, Cammy, Rose, T. Hawk, etc.) for his malevolent and sinister nature. Having banished all goodness in his heart to control Psycho Power, he possesses a dark and irredeemable spirit. He does display a twisted sense of humor which, not to mentioning his characteristic "business before pleasure" attitude, makes him quite a unique and effective villain in the series. Bison also has no regard for the suffering and damages he causes to others, as mentioned in several of his win quotes and also brands others to be weak or that they don't stand a chance against him. He is certainly the most evil character of the Street Fighter franchise, along with Seth. Attacks *'Scissor Kick' - Bison performs a forward somersault with his legs outstretched, kicking the opponent twice and aiming to land on the opponent's knees. *'Head Stomp' - Bison leaps into the air and lands perfectly on his opponent's head, in a standing position with his arms folded. He then backflips off again almost immediately, and can land a good distance away if desired, even if the attack is blocked. *'Devil Reverse' - Bison leaps into the air and towards the opponent. If punch is pressed while in mid-air, he changes direction in mid-air, flipping upside-down and throwing a Psycho Power-infused punch toward the opponent while descending. *'Psycho Cannon' - Bison forms a purple ball of energy using his Psycho Power, then launches it at his opponent. *'Bison Warp' - Bison folds his arms, chuckles a little, glows a pinkish-purple hue and teleports to another location. *'Psycho Crusher' - Bison charges his right hand with Psycho Power, then surrounds himself with the energy while flying spinning towards his opponents, similar to a torpedo. This is Bison's signature move. Non-Canon Appearances In the Versus series of crossover fighting games, M. Bison was frequently included among the ranks of Capcom characters. Both X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996) and Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997) featured him as a playable character. Bison's character sprite was identical to that of his Street Fighter Alpha incarnation. He was noticeably absent from the Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes roster, though he appeared in several characters' ending sequences. In Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000), the Alpha version of Bison was once again a playable character, though he had to be unlocked before he was made available. Bison underwent a makeover for his role in Capcom vs. SNK (as the game's antagonist), reverting to the slimmer appearance of his Street Fighter II debut. In Capcom vs. SNK 2 (2001), Bison appeared at the halfway point as a mid-boss (along with Geese Howard) if the player had accumulated enough points. More recently, he was included as a playable character in SVC Chaos. Bison also appeared in Capcom Fighting Evolution (2004), which featured an assortment of characters from individual series published by Capcom. Outside of the fighting game genre, a super-deformed version of M. Bison has also appeared in the handheld collectible card game SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash (1999). He also appeared in the Japan-only action/tactical RPG hybrid Namco ✕ Capcom. He also appears as an enemy unit in the upcoming crossover RPG, Project X Zone 2 Trivia *In the original version, where his name is Vega, he is named after the star Vega, from the Lyra constellation. *M. Bison was inspired off of Kato Yasunori (played by Kyusaku Shimada) from the historical/fantasy film, Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis. *He and Kato have similar abilities. Like teleportation, levitation, possession, telekinesis, telepathy, etc. *The Street Fighter II portrait of M. Bison had the likeness of Kato (Kyusaku Shimada). *Bison's appearance strongly resembles Washizaki from the 1983 Japanese manga, Riki-Oh. *There is a meme of the scene of the American cartoon in which M. Bison says, "Yes, Yes!" and "This is DELICIOUS!" This is also referenced in Street Fighter X Tekken when M. Bison defeats Hugo. *By the time of the Street Fighter IV series, Bison's power and new body is much weaker than his first body from the Alpha series and the Street Fighter II series. *The character Athena Asamiya from the "King of Fighters" series also utilizes psychic powers that are called "Psycho Power". *M. Bison references the "For me, it was a Tuesday" quote from Street Fighter: The Movie in Street Fighter X Tekken as his taunt. Gallery For more images of this character, see their Gallery. Category:Street Fighter Characters Category:Characters Category:Villains Category:Street Fighter Bosses Category:Deceased Characters